My new short: THE ATHEIST

Existentialist

Existentialist

Well-known member
Hi guys. I'll be posting a journal on my attempt at shooting a short for a film festival. This is a Christian film called The Atheist, aiming for the San Antonio Christian Film Festival next year.
We're pretty much done with pre-production, and this next weekend we're having a meeting with all the cast and crew to discuss final details to begin shooting.
I would love to hear your comments and suggestions, I'm opened to anything at the moment. Here's some of the details so far:

THE ATHEIST

Shot with: DVX100A + Brevis35.

Synopses: A person has a near death experience and wakes up in a heaven like environment where he has a philosophical dialogue with an Angel about issues like the co-existence of God and evil in our world.

Approximate running time: 15 minutes.

Cast:

Jeremy (the atheist).................................. Mike Devenny


The Angel.................................................. Konrad Winderl


Steve........................................................ James Hadde

Written and directed by: Tony Silva

Produced by: Tony and Grace Silva

Assistant director: Tim K.

Director of photography: Don Ha

Original Score: Jesse Cohen

Costume designer: Sharon Gamboa

Camera: Mark Myashiro, Tony Silva

Script Supervisor: Josh Morgan

Production assistants: Rich Espinoza and Auchie Espinoza

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Here's some of our location pictures, here in Honolulu. We had all the locations photographed in a storyboard kind of manner so our DP can figure out what he's going to do. Also, I think it would be a good touch for the rest of the crew to have an idea where they will be shooting. I also have the storyboard which I will be posting up here soon.






Edit: You can see a teaser of the film here.
 
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An interesting DIY hood my wife made for our 7" LCD screen, what a difference it makes! That's a 6mm foam used for crafts, plus a light plastic clamp holding everything together. Results-- no glare whatsoever! I was stoked about that. It will be used for the first time as we shoot The Atheist.

 
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Budgeting

Budgeting

Budgeting, I have found, is something incredibly hard in a low budget film. You start with an amount, and you always wish you had more. You come to the end of your finances and you still see "must haves" that well...you still don't have.
It seems like the best thing to do is budget way in advance. Everything to the last red penny. I'm not too good at that, and once all the money is gone and as a film maker, consequently also artist with his head in the clouds, you keep wishing you had more and more. If I only had THAT dolly. Or THAT adapter. Wait...oh, I really need THOSE lenses, they'll give me much better shots. There's always better stuff, and you have to learn how to say "ok, I'm going to work with what I have now... no more dreaming on what I COULD HAVE, now I'm moving forwards with what I got. So budgeting I'm still learning. But those extra bucks...sometimes so inevitable. All of the sudden the actor is late, and you have to pay for a cab to get him there on time. You thought you had all the wiring down, but looks like you still need some extra feet. And it adds up, and piles on. How do you guys manage these tiny things? Petty cash?

I had to make some decisions on what to buy and what not to. I opted not to spend any money on lights, that I'd just get them from friends.

So far:

Todd's Matte Box from Indiesnap: $185.00
Green screen from Tubetape, two 9'X20': $200.00
One oxygen mask for ambulance scene: $6.00
DIY zoom controller: $20.00
Crane and crane stand from Bargain Camera: 280.00
"Salaries" for 2 main actors: $400.00
Gas: 100.00
Food: 200.00
Tape stock: 30.00
Makeup: 30.00
DIY hood for LCD screen: 30.00

Total so far....... $1,481.00, give or take a couple hundred bucks.
 
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Sounds interesting, I'll keep posted. A Christian film festival? That sounds cool, maybe I should get involved in something like that.
 
i have a similar film....except my films deal with islam. howver, since its a film intended to attract mainstream muslim community, it deals with the basic principles of the faith (1 god, and belief). let me know if you wanna look at mine...

your film looks very promising, where can we watch it?
 
baseer said:
i have a similar film....except my films deal with islam. howver, since its a film intended to attract mainstream muslim community, it deals with the basic principles of the faith (1 god, and belief). let me know if you wanna look at mine...

your film looks very promising, where can we watch it?
Click to expand...

For sure. Send me the link.
I'm still linking up my films to the website.
 
Journal continues.


October 21, 2007
don%201.jpg
Don setting up camera and lenses in Waikiki

Don, Grace (my wife), the kids and I went to Waikiki today to set up the gear and test out the opening and closing shots for the film. It was fantastic! We wanted to see if we were going to get away with shooting the way I had in mind, which is to keep one subject ouf of focus while Jeremy was in focus and Don made it look superb! Many curious people gathered around asking us what we were doing, so I imagine when we go there to actually shoot, with reflectors, boom poles, 5 or 6 crew members, we'll attract many more. It made me think that we all have to be prepared to keep it cool, keep doing it as if no one were around, specially the actors, where more pressure will probably be on, sorta' speak.
We learned today that we're going to need a dolly and a track for this shot, due to the nature of the zoom we're looking for. We also saw that we're going to have to bring some kind of beach towel or a blanket to put all the equipment, tripods, etc on, due to all the sand. Speaking of which, when you just go to the beach to swim, you don't think of or sense that palpable saline-ness in the air. When you have expensive equipment, you do! So we'll have to find a way to protect all this stuff against the salt.




Don%20e%20glauce%20sentada.jpg
Shooting Grace, as Jeremy. The shot came out beautiful.


Tomorrow we meet with the guy who's possibly going to be cutting our film.



More to come soon!
 
Great!! I'll be checking your thread for the results!
Hey, Brandon, do you know if the SAICFF allows you to screen your movie in other film festivals, or even show it at all before the festival?
 
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**Warning**Warning**Warning**Warning**

*Graphic Images Below*



November 11, 2007
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This was a very technical shot, scene number 14, the internal ambulance shot. Let me first lay down some stills and then I'll talk about our shooting experience.

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This is the "before" shots, with color correction, bleach bypass and contrast added.​
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Mike DeVenny busted up inside the ambulance. ​

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And after, with blue mid tones added for a cool light feel. It also takes away the "butchered" look.

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I guess the very first thing to say is about Laura's make up. Unbelievable. It was so realistic, and so well done, that some of us that were there at times would ask Mike if he was really all right. The reason is because he had a neck imobilizer on, was lying down in character the whole time, never smiled or anything like that, and just lied there, with his eyes rolling up. At times Grace would ask, "Mike, are you alright?" It was a freaky experience. Laura was amaaaaaaaaazing. Don, our DP, gave some ideas for lighting, and stood by the lights raising up and down a reflector to give the idea of the ambulance passing under bridges and whatnot. That looked really sweet as well. Grace gave the idea of a slight camera shake to give the illusion of a moving vehicle, so it all came together extremely well. I'm very pleased with the results!

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